They're Here!

Chelsea's parents came for visit for twelve days.

My mother was originally going to come with them until she discovered that she needed surgery on her hip as bone is rubbing against bone. It's very painful and she uses a walker to get around the house. Dashing madly through the airport would not have been fun. Nor would all the walking we are doing while Chelsea's parents are here.

They started having crazy adventures while still in the Las Vegas airport. Their flight from Las Vegas to San Francisco got cancelled, even though it was a full flight. So they scrambled madly to find another way so they could meet their connecting flight. 

Well, they didn't. They ended up flying to Los Angeles, while their luggage went to San Francisco. From LA they flew to Tokyo, with a continuing flight to Seoul. They finally got here, only 5 hours behind their originally scheduled arrival time. That's not too bad, considering the nightmare they went through just trying to get on the plane. 

Their luggage arrived the next evening. 

While they're here, we're going to try to give them as much of a taste of Korea as we can. Lots of walking, sight-seeing, and just having fun. That's the plan anyway.

It's nice to have them here. I've been in Korea long enough that I've kind of lost interest in trying to figure out what cool place to see next. I'm a bit of a homebody anyway, but getting settled in doesn't bring out the adventurer in me. 

Saturday, June 2, we went to visit the Korean War Memorial. There was some sort of benefit concert going on while we were there, so we got to hear lots of music. We didn't go inside the on-site museum, but we didn't really need to. There was plenty to see and do on the grounds, all free of charge.

The grounds are beautiful and arranged very attractively. What was probably most exciting thing for me were the displays of all the different vehicles used in the war. They had planes of every shape and size. Tanks in assorted colors and varieties. Rocket launchers. Machine guns. Even a couple of boats (along with a North Korean semi-submarine). As soon as I saw the myriad war machines, I knew what I was hoping to see. And I saw it:

Yeah, it's missing it's main rotors; they're lying next to the short fence near the trees.

That's right. I saw and took a picture with the M*A*S*H medical evacuation helicopter. Just like the ones you see in the opening credits of the TV series. The only thing that would have made the photo more of a geek moment for me would have been if I was wearing my M*A*S*H t-shirt. I might go back, just to take that picture.

I've really been enjoying this visit from my in-laws so far. Today we're taking them to Namdaemun, the outdoor market. I love that market and I'm excited to go back.

I'm sure there will be more on this visit later on.